Stormont leaders confident of announcing timetable for further easing

The deputy First Minister said she was confident the powersharing executive could agree a timetable for the reopening of more sections of society at a meeting on Thursday.

The hospitality sector is also hopeful that it might get some good news on Thursday, particularly in respect of outdoor trading.

Northern Ireland took some further gradual steps out of lockdown on Monday.

The remainder of post-primary students, years eight to 11, returned to schools while a limited number of outdoor-focused retail outlets, such as garden centres and car dealerships, reopened.

The “stay at home” messaging has also been replaced with a “stay local” advice.

At the weekend, Northern Ireland reached the milestone of one million vaccine jabs having been given.

On the prospect of further announcements on Thursday, Ms O’Neill told BBC Radio Ulster: “I wouldn’t want to pre-empt the Executive decisions on Thursday, but I think it’s fair to say that we’re increasingly confident in our ability to be able to make more progress.

“We have, over the weekend obviously, reached the one million vaccine mark, which was obviously very encouraging and gives us great hope that we’re making our way out of this pandemic.

“I think today is a good step forward in terms of our young people being back into our schools and a number of other areas obviously opening up.

“So I’m hopeful that by Thursday we’ll be able to announce dates for other things being able to open up because, for a combination of reasons, the factors look good where we have the headroom on which to be able to move.

“The vaccination programme being very strong, our ICU numbers coming down, the number of positive cases coming down – that all leads to a very encouraging situation, so I’d be hopeful that, with Executive colleagues’ agreement, we’ll be able to announce dates.”

Mrs Foster reiterated her hope that dates can be provided on Thursday,

“I very much hope that we can give an indicative timeframe on Thursday because I think there are lots of people for business reasons, for wellbeing reasons, they want to see that timetable and I hope that we can do that on Thursday,” she told BBC Radio Ulster.

Other relaxations on Monday saw the number of people who can meet outdoors in a garden, including children, increase from six to 10.

Click-and-collect services for non-essential retail also resumed.

Outdoor sports training is now allowed for recognised clubs, in groups of up to 15, provided all indoor facilities except toilets remain closed.

The number of people allowed to attend marriage and civil partnership ceremonies has also increased, at a level informed by a risk assessment for the venue.

---

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor